


Path 02

by yuki_anesa



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, I'm not sorry about this one, Other, Shu almost beheads Mika, blame endstars for me posting this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:08:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26153950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuki_anesa/pseuds/yuki_anesa
Summary: »You just returned from a long, hard trip! You greet your roommate with a friendly wave as you get home.«.........»Your roommate ran away a few months ago, with no word to you as to where and why. They have just returned. You are furious.«
Kudos: 11





	Path 02

**Author's Note:**

> So in Endstars we got a prompt minigame. Shu and Mika were picked and I of course did my best to follow an my prompt as Mika only to find out Shu's prompt was angst magnet. These are the escapades that follow said discovery! 
> 
> Mika Kagehira was played by me, Shu Itsuki by the amazing Mary! <3

»Enter scene. Mika and Shu stand upon a stage in front of four faceless judges and the gamemaster. Among them are an axe and several luggage bags scattered about 

»Enter, Mika Kagehira. Prompt begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ne, ne! Oshi-saaan, where are ya! I'm finally home, I missed ya so so much!"

Mika stretched himself out, arms raised high to the sky as he mimicked the achy pain he'd feel after being cooped up for a few hours by plane or by boat. He's got a wide grin on his face, waltzing about as if he owned the place. His hands tap against his pants to a rhythm only he could hear, and he stopped again, this time calling slightly louder.

"Shii-san~! I'm back home, I made sure ta bring ya lots o' goodies from my trip!! I was so worried without ya by my side, yanno? I-I didn't know if ya wanted something fancy so I just picked up a few o' the foodstuffs from the airport before I flew!" 

»Enter, Shu Itsuki. Prompt begin.

When Shu had heard someone enter, he naturally assumed it a bugler, or worse. So of course before confronting such an intrusion, he grabbed ahold of the nearest self defense! His axe. 

And instead of preparing to whittle down whoever dared intrude his home, he was faced with a person he hasn’t seen in a long time.

“Kagehira?” He sounded confused, lowering his axe, at first. But that confusion quickly changed to fury, marching up to his younger housemate- roomate?- clutching his weapon tightly, perhaps tighter than necessary.

“You bâtard égocentrique!! You dare waltz into my home after what you did!? Unbelievable!!! I was aware of your lack of braincells but this is- this is further than dirt!!!” He spat, glaring down at the dual eye-colored teen.

Mika immediately seemed to shrink, the excitement he'd felt when he'd first arrived home whittled down to nothing as he eyes the axe in Shu's hand, taking a rather frightened step back. A deep pang fell upon his heart, and he put his hands up in a surrendering position. His shoulders are hunched back, his head faced down towards the floor, and his hands no longer grace the air, instead he found them buried deeply into the pockets of his jeans. His feet shuffled anxiously, his eyes already bubbling up with tears. He looked pathetic, pitiful compared to how proudly he'd stand on stage.

"Wa-Wait, Oshi-san!! I-I don' mean no harm, swears it! I-I... I-I don'... I dunno what I did, o-okay? U-Uh, l-look! I got ya some c-candy, wanna sh-hare it with me?"

He fumbled around a bit, turning to the side as he fumbled with shaking fingers at the bags placed near his feet. His skin's paled slightly, his hair almost comprehensibly standing on end. He's keeping an eye on the axe, withered down to nothing under his Oshi-san's harsh, cold gaze. He finds what he's looking for eventually, holding out a box to him.

"S-See? I-I even saved u-up my own money fer it too! Aintcha p-proud o' me? I-I even made it home without no help! A-Aintcha.... Aintcha proud o' me, 'Shii-san?"

He's shaking, trying to make himself look physically smaller, hoping Shu's wrath would kindle if he saw the odd-eyed boy wasn't a threat. His heart is visibly throbbing, small beads of sweat collecting on his temples.

"S-Shii-san-?"

No harm? No harm?!” Shu murmured the words with anger. He swung the axe down just to the side of where Mika stands, embedding it into the flooring. He’ll surely have a fit about the damages later. 

He loomed over Mika, continuing to hiss out his words. “Gone! For months!! without a single word as to where you have left to!! Leaving me alone!! And you have the gal to come back like you did nothing in the wrong?!?!!”

Mika yelped rather helplessly, his hands raised up in immediate response to the axe, his bottom lip quivers with fear as he glanced up to Shu again, his heart picking up as he stared with tear-stained eyes up at his mentor. Shame was clear on his face, and he looked back down, tears dripping through to the floor as he blubbered our a few incomprehensible words, now hugging his knees tightly to his chest. He had the appearance of a frightened animal, or a puppy who did something wrong.

"O-O-Osh-hisan, w-wait! I-I.. le-let me explain, please! I-I promise i-it was f-fer good reas-son, just lemme explain m'self!"

He glanced up at him again, cowering beneath him, his knees to the floor as if he'd just been executed by the axe itself.

"I-I told ya I-I had ta leave be-because my family needed me! I-I needed ta go to-to em and I lost tra-ack of h-how much ti-time I was gone...! I j-just.. I-I.. I just wanted ta p-prove that I could b-be useful to ya!! Dont-ch-cha geddit!? I-If I could tak-ke care o' myself all on my lonesome, you-ou'd let me go abroad wit'cha and I wouldn't haveta stay behind!!"

“Told me?!” Shu glared, though there were flickers of confusion in those eyes. “I am furious with you because you hadn’t said a thing!!!” he wasn’t entirely heartless, he could see how terrified Mika is, perhaps the axe was a bit too much. But his better judgement was clouded by his still pulsing rage.

“Get up from the floor, boy!” He hissed out, resisting the urge to pull Mika to his feet himself. “What use would you be if you do not inform me of such trivial events!!! Stop sniffling, you had brought this upon yourself!” He snapped, seeing the glossy eyes and clear tears.

“Had you been anyone else you would be decapitated where you stand!”

Mika still doesn't move, his knees still pulled tightly to his chest. He's rocking back and forth, clearly terrified of Shu and his gaze.

"I-I just wanted ta prove how much I'd grown... I-I thought ya'd be proud of me for doin it all on my own! B-But ya can't be proud of me, can ya?"

His eyes are duller now, grey smoke clouding his thoughts and constricting them into awful, twisting thoughts.

"Because I ain't whatcha want at all, right? Ya only took me in cuz' my parents asked ya to, ya only let me stay because I rebuilt Valkyrie with my bare hands while you wasted after Nazuna-nii! I spend all my time working just ta keep us alive and healthy and now I'm the bad guy!?" 

“Quit your nonesense talk Kagehira,” Shu, slowly loosing his patience, reached down to pull Mika to his feet by his upper arm, his glare had let up, but his gaze was still hard. He isn’t forgiving of clear disobedience. 

“For a boy who brags so much about being close to moi you clearly don’t know much! I have no use of listening to others, especially if it’s concerning who comes under my care.” 

He scoffed. “Your parents do not hold any power over me, I would have turned you away out of spite had they asked me to take you in. It’s clear your mind is still messed up if you believe such jibberish. had you not listen to a word I said!? If you had spoken anything of your whereabouts—updates would have been enough!— we would not be here.” 

He lets Mika’s arm go. Scoffing again at the boy. “And do not dare raise your tone with me.”

Mika moodily rubbed his arm, shooting a glare at Shu. It wasn't much, but it was rather fierce, especially for the younger boy. Had he gotten that gaze from Shu?

"I ain't appreciated round here, am I!? It's always Kagehira ya failure this and Kagehira ya useless puppet that!! I ain't nobody's doll! Not yers, not ma parents and not that president's either!"

His stance stiffens, his fists balled as the tears fell freely from his face.

"All I want is a lil recognition sometimes! Some affection, maybe!? Ma-Maybe then I'd be more compliant ta what yer sayin! Till then, it's finally my turn ta talk! And by god, I'm gonna make ya listen to me! You don't understand how hard it was picking up the pieces of this unit, do ya!? Who had ta work days on end ta make ends meet? Who had ta make ya food and made sure ya actually ate and drank ta keep ya alive after Nazuna-nii left!? Who dya think had to go beggin on ma hands and knees to that..- Ta that bastard Tenshouin ta keep Valkyrie from disbandin!? I haven't once got the recognition I deserve, I'm still a failure in yer eyes!"

Well, Mika certainly got Shu to listen to him. 

Several times had Shu formed enough words to shout at Kagehira, only to be cut off and have his carefully constructed sentences shatter with each hard, stone cold fact falling past the boys mouth. 

And in the end, he was left speechless. simply standing there, staring at Kagehira with slightly widen eyes. Unable to even properly speak. Truly, a rare look on Shu. And he could only remember one time he was this shocked. Only difference from them and now was that this time he didn’t fall to his knees due to the dread and despair that came along with the past events shock.

Mika's crying heavily now, his face sorrowful and pained. His fists are bunched into tight red balls as he lets out his true feelings, the negative thoughts eating away at the happy-go-lucky boy.

"O-Oshisan... I'm tired of bein' useless ta ya.. I wanna be just as good- no- I wanna be better than Nazuna-nii was! Why can't I do nothin right, even when I work m'self and help you out so much? Why'm I still a failure in yer eyes, Oshi-san? Wh-Why... Why can I never be good enough for ya..?"

He's the first to fall to his knees, sobbing openly into his knees, his crying ugly and disjointed now. He's trembling from head to toe, trying to speak through his sobs.

"I-If I-I... Can' be u-useful... Thr-row me away l-like everyone el-lse has.. like m-my parents and th-the orphanage and all th-those other kids have.." 

Shu looked down to Kagehira with a range of mixed emotions. His fury had passed the longer now that this has dragged on, far too long in his opinion. He has things to do after all. 

“Kagehira,” he started, tone not angry anymore, shifting back into his less-than-pleased tone he seemed to carry all the time. “Kagehira, quit your trembling,” he kneeled infront of the boy, resting one hand under Mika’s chin, tilting it up, and the other reaching into his pocket to pull out a handkerchief.

“Clean yourself, you look like a mess.” He held the fabric out, not waiting to continue his talking. “You are mistaking my anger. You are aware I’m upset because you had not said anything about your whereabouts. Not once had I labeled you ‘not good enough’, foolish boy.”

Gone was the hard look from his eyes, instead replaced with a look you’d commonly see him give towards that doll he carries around. “If I threw you away it would only cause problems to arise.”

Mika looked up at him again, directly into the eyes. His eyes, they were distrustful of Shu, and he slightly cowered under him. He glanced nervously at him, and then at the axe embedded directly next to him, and then glanced at the handkerchief. Mika was afraid of him in that moment, afraid he'd yell or hurt him or do something Mika would suffer for, and he was unresponsive to Shu's softness, instead refusing the handkerchief for now and electing to wipe his face into his sweater instead.

"I-Oshi-s-san, 'm sorry, 'm-'m sorry... Sh-Shoulda held my to-tongue and sh-shut up when I-I was to-told.."

His moment of rebellion was faded, all that was left was a shivering, scared boy that looked up at Shu with the look you'd give a wolf about to tear you to shreds. His words trailed off, his voice trembling and stumbling as he curled himself up into himself.

"I-If y-ya gotta k-kick me outta V-Valkyrie f-fer punishment I-I'll understand... I-I don' deserve t-ta be in v-valhalla.."

“Non, non, do you hear yourself? Do not ruin your clothes like that, Kagehira,” he scolded the boy gently. He has himself to blame for this.

“Clean yourself up with this, S'il vous plaît, I would hardly kick you out of Valkyrie for having emotions, Kagehira. well, not anymore.” He sighed, now regretting his rash reactions. And he prided himself on being so level headed..

“Come now, on your feet, you just got back, oui? Let me fix you something to drink while you get yourself cleaned up,” it’s the closest he can get to saying an apology. Shu was stubborn, after all..

Mika seemed surprised by Shu's attitude, still wary of him, as if the axe would behead him if he even moved an inch, and he sniffled slightly. He glanced up to Shu, offering up a trembling, pale hand to him as he gently took the handkerchief from his mentor, using it to wipe his face.

"I-I don' deserve t-ta be called y'r partn-ner.. I d-don' even deserve ta be called a part o' Valkyrie... M-Mebbe N-Naruchan would let m-me join Knights.. I really don' deserve it..."

He's mumbling the words to himself, his eyes distant, elsewhere now. He's still somehow firmly stuck to the spot he was in, surrounded by scattered clothes and luggage bags. 

»Now that Shu was closer, he saw blood coming from Mika's upper arm on the side the axe was. He'd nicked the boy with the axe during his performance.

“Nonesense!!” Shu scoffed, “as if Knights needs anymore skills in their unit. Their skills cannot even hold a candle to what you were trained for. It would be a bad match!” He semi-rambled, not keen on admitting he’s hate to have Mika leave his side after all this time.

»He would have continued on his rambling if it were not for his sharp eyes catching glimpse of red on the boys arms.

“Mon dieu- foolish boy why had you not said anything about this!?” He hissed, merely out of concern than anger as he grab ahold of the nicked arm, tisking as he got up. 

“Stay here, do not move, bien? I’ll get some cloth to fix you up, garçon insensé..” he cursed towards the end, turning around and leaving the scene to get what he said he needed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

»Scene end. Mika Kagehira stands up and looks to the judges, who all give him and Shu a 9/10. He doesn't move, and eventually Shu comes back, bandages the boy and whispers apologies as they walk out of the theatre.


End file.
